Remember Me (Jack Maynard)

Chapter 3

"Come in," I said as a knock came at the door, and Jack peeked his head in.

I hadn't seen Jack since yesterday when he stormed off. Besides in his video, of course. I'd assumed he'd gone home and stayed there until now. But I wasn't sure why he was here. I mean yeah, he had been my boyfriend, but it didn't appear in the video as if he'd cared for much other than himself.

"Hi," he said in a soft voice, and he seemed a little bit nervous. "I was hoping we could talk."

"Sure. Okay," I said, and he took a seat next to my bed. He moved a little bit, as if reaching for my hand, but then quickly realized what he was doing and stopped.

"I don't know how much Joe told you," he said. "But my name is Jack Maynard. I'm from a different part of Brighton than you and Joe. I'm twenty-two years old, I work for BBC Radio along with making videos on YouTube.... and I'm also your boyfriend of a little under three years."

"He told me," I said, nodding. "He told me how we got together, and how I ended up moving in with you, Conor, and Josh. He also left me his laptop to explore YouTube, but I only watched one video and went to bed."

It wasn't completely a lie. I did watch one video before shutting down the computer and going to bed. But I didn't sleep. Not much, anyways. The idea of being in a hospital scared me a bit, and my mind was full of thoughts of Jack. I still didn't understand what it was that had made me attracted to him in the first place. Yes, he was good looking, and yes, he did seem sweet when I first woke up and he was trying to tell me where I was, but there didn't seem to be much else. The way he came across, and his personality, that wasn't me. That wasn't someone I went for usually, or at all, really.

"What was it?" he asked.

"Your roommate tag, I think it was called," I said, and he nodded.

"Did you enjoy it?" he asked, and I shrugged, not wanting to tell him that I hadn't. "Okay... anyways, I was hoping we could maybe get to know each other. I mean, I know you but... I was hoping you could get to know me. Maybe help jog something in your memory."

"Yeah, it's worth a shot," I said, sitting up a little bit more.

"Ask me anything," he said. "It can be about me, or you, or us, or anything."

"What do we usually do?" I asked. "What's a normal day like?"

"Well it depends," he said. "I'm a vlogger for a couple YouTube channels. If we spend the day together then we vlog it for our channel. If we're not together then I'll do it and post it on a solo channel. You really like a bookstore not far from our flat. That's where you were heading home from when you..." he trailed off. "Anyways, most days I'll film, either by myself, with you, or with our friends. Then we come home, have dinner, and just kind of enjoy each other's company."

"Who are our friends?" I asked.

"Well usually we're with Conor, Josh, Joe, his old roommate Caspar, and our friend Mikey." he explained. "Sometimes we'll see Zoe and her boyfriend Alfie and some of their friends."

"Do I have a job?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Well, not unless you count the YouTube vlogs, and what we make from that. You're working on writing a book."

"So I did continue writing," I said, and he nodded. "And you say we've been together a long time... I take it we're.... active." I said, and he nodded then.

So that was that. I don't remember my first time. And there was a possibility I never would.

"Do we have... kids?" I asked, and he stiffened slightly before answering.

"We... no," he said, loosening back up a bit. "No, we don't."

I couldn't take this. He was acting like a completely different person than I had seen online. And it was only confusing the hell out of me. There was no way that he could care for someone as much as he seemed to for me. Why was I still with him for this long?

"You make fun of your friends a lot," I said, and he seemed a little taken aback.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"You poke a lot of fun at Josh," I said. "Why do you do that?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, it's just kind of a thing. You do tell me that a lot. That I should try to not make fun of Josh and Mikey as much as we do. But it's all in good fun. We all make fun of each other."

"That's not what it looked like." I said, anger coursing through me. "You made fun of Josh a lot, and then Conor when he came back. Like you were the only person who mattered. It was selfish, really."

His face fell then. "You think I'm selfish."

I nodded. "Yes," I said. "you do all that, and then yesterday you just left."

"Well here's a little something, Mel," he said. "For the past three years, even before we were dating, I've treated you like an absolute princess, because that's exactly what you are. You're my princess. I know I'm not perfect, and I know I'm an ass sometimes, but that's how my friends and I get along. I know this is hard for you, but it's hard for me too.

"I'm the one who stays up until four in the morning with you if you can't sleep because of a nightmare so you'll feel better because it kills me to see you scared like that. If anyone ever needs me, I'm there as soon as I can be. I take care of you whenever you're sick. I haven't been able to sleep more than two hours a night for the past two weeks because I've been terrified that you'll either wake up while I'm asleep, or that you'll have finally left us while I'm sleeping. And as for leaving, sweetheart I've never left. I've been here this whole time."

"B-but... yesterday," I said.

"I went for a walk in the halls and took a shower to try and clear my head. Then I was outside in the hall because you were talking to Joe and I didn't want to scare you. I slept out there. I haven't eaten a single meal that wasn't from the cafeteria in two weeks. I haven't left since they brought you in, Amelie, because I love you. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go take a walk, and think, but you can talk about how selfish I am again when I get back."